Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

I've been thinking again. Yeah I know it's dangerous.
I built the frame the large Solway coop sits on out of wood and OSB board.
The board is already suffering from the elements and rat chewing.

Marine ply would help and the coops I built in Catalonia with marine ply fared better in all respects compared to ordinary ply. But, have you seen the price of proper marine ply these days!

I've been thinking about a longer term solution to getting the new Nestera coop off the ground and replacing the base for the Solway coop.
This works out considerably cheaper than ply of any description if one takes wear and tear into account.
An added expense is delivery.
My chicken budget is blown out for this month and next; birthdays and the fast approaching winter commercial festival aren't helping. But, the idea has lodged in my mind now and I will probably go for the recycled plastic option as soon as funds permit.

https://www.kedel.co.uk/sheet-recycled-plastic/stokbord-recycled-plastic-sheet-board.html

https://www.kedel.co.uk/mixed-plast...quare-post-with-pyramid-head-80mm-x-80mm.html

https://www.kedel.co.uk/battens/recycled-mixed-plastic-lumber-50-x-50mm-ultra.html

 

[kattabelly]

I have what might be an opposite problem - I’m a natural mimic, for lack of a better term, and I wind up echoing speech patterns and accent of anyone around me, including in books I’ve just read.

I’m particularly obnoxious after reading “tartan noir” (Scottish police procedural,)

I'm basically self-banned from Ireland for this reason. My accent can travel between Orkney and Sussex (basically opposite ends of the UK) a few times in a sentence as it is, and I sometimes use words from both dialects together.

I've been thinking about a longer term solution to getting the new Nestera coop off the ground

Sorry if you mentioned this already and I missed it or forgot, but is there a reason you didn't get the Nestera that's built with space underneath?

I probably owe tax. Not sure how much these are worth, since everyone's wet and muddy and most of them are at least partly tail-less at the moment.

 

[RoyalChick]

I've been thinking again. Yeah I know it's dangerous.
I built the frame the large Solway coop sits on out of wood and OSB board.
The board is already suffering from the elements and rat chewing.

Marine ply would help and the coops I built in Catalonia with marine ply fared better in all respects compared to ordinary ply. But, have you seen the price of proper marine ply these days!

I've been thinking about a longer term solution to getting the new Nestera coop off the ground and replacing the base for the Solway coop.
This works out considerably cheaper than ply of any description if one takes wear and tear into account.
An added expense is delivery.
My chicken budget is blown out for this month and next; birthdays and the fast approaching winter commercial festival aren't helping. But, the idea has lodged in my mind now and I will probably go for the recycled plastic option as soon as funds permit.

https://www.kedel.co.uk/sheet-recycled-plastic/stokbord-recycled-plastic-sheet-board.html

https://www.kedel.co.uk/mixed-plast...quare-post-with-pyramid-head-80mm-x-80mm.html

https://www.kedel.co.uk/battens/recycled-mixed-plastic-lumber-50-x-50mm-ultra.html

Different brand name, but I used this for some critical elements in the Chicken Palace. Originally I wanted to use it to make the whole thing but that was way too costly to be feasible. But I used a fair bit of both sheet and post in critical and prone to damp areas.
A few lessons learned in case helpful:
- It is very hard on tools like saw blades so expect some extra cost there.
- All screws need holes pre-drilling which is a pain and creates lots of stiff plastic spirals which I was worried about getting eaten by chickens. I tried to work over a tarp to make the laborious task of cleaning those up a bit more manageable. I may have been overly worried because now, many years later, I still find some of those spirals in the bedding so maybe they aren’t attractive to eat after all!
- Be very careful not to under gun any load-bearing posts. Just like lumber this stuff can deform with uneven load.
- Also, because of cost, make sure you plan and measure for as little wastage as humanly possible. You won’t have wastage as you do in lumber because of knots, so most wastage is down to you!
- And keep all scrap - it has endless uses. Even little pieces are useful - I used slices of 3” segments to create insulating buffers to keep my electric fence wires away from hardware cloth for example. I have a bucket of little scraps I have kept.

But net net it is wonderful stuff. With the exception of what I mention above, it handles just like lumber (but heavier) and of course lasts forever. Rodents have not tried any nibbling and I have had no warping.
Good luck - hope it works for you.

Tax: Mr. Chips demonstrating that he is big enough to roost at night (his mother was not convinced by this display!).

 

[rural mouse]

on the two Englishes (?? Englishs looks worse so I'll go with the -es plural) I found this, which might amuse
https://stroppyeditor.wordpress.com...-this-word-back-and-the-uk-probably-will-too/

It's quite long, so for those with TLDR inclinations, here's a short quote from quite a long way in
"I don’t think any British usage guide has yet endorsed gotten, and for the moment that seems fair – although the reason has changed. A century ago, the word would have seemed affectedly archaic (Henry Fowler’s judgement in 1926); today, the risk is that it comes across as affectedly American. How easily we forget our history."

Thank you for sharing that link! In addition to some interesting quotes from assorted tImes on the usage of gotten throughout written history, there's links at the bottom to more differences such as spelling between British and American English. I have a rabbit hole to enjoy for a while.

I do have to say on quoting Shakespeare....I'm not so certain his use of got AND gotten in the same play is all that significant simply because of his penchant for rhythm. Even factoring in Shakespeare's credit for being the father of the modern version of English (Internet excluded at the moment as that's still in so much flux)....

 

[Appalachickens]

Still on the subject of language...
My favourite new word is mansplaining.
Favourite expression, doomscrolling.

I frequently say to my husband, “Did you just mansplain that to me?” There needs to be a word for adolescents who think they know everything and are happy to tell you all about something you learned long before they were born. I call it teensplaining.

 

[Shadrach]

 

[Appalachickens]

I've been thinking again. Yeah I know it's dangerous.
I built the frame the large Solway coop sits on out of wood and OSB board.
The board is already suffering from the elements and rat chewing.

Marine ply would help and the coops I built in Catalonia with marine ply fared better in all respects compared to ordinary ply. But, have you seen the price of proper marine ply these days!

I've been thinking about a longer term solution to getting the new Nestera coop off the ground and replacing the base for the Solway coop.
This works out considerably cheaper than ply of any description if one takes wear and tear into account.
An added expense is delivery.
My chicken budget is blown out for this month and next; birthdays and the fast approaching winter commercial festival aren't helping. But, the idea has lodged in my mind now and I will probably go for the recycled plastic option as soon as funds permit.

https://www.kedel.co.uk/sheet-recycled-plastic/stokbord-recycled-plastic-sheet-board.html

https://www.kedel.co.uk/mixed-plast...quare-post-with-pyramid-head-80mm-x-80mm.html

https://www.kedel.co.uk/battens/recycled-mixed-plastic-lumber-50-x-50mm-ultra.html

Is marine ply a pressure treated plywood? I used that on my coop and then coated it with an elastomeric roof sealant and then painted it with an exterior paint. I’m in a temperate rain forest so pretty damp, and I’m hoping that will take care of it. But yes, plywood - and indeed all lumber - has gotten ridiculously expensive.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I'm basically self-banned from Ireland for this reason. My accent can travel between Orkney and Sussex (basically opposite ends of the UK) a few times in a sentence as it is, and I sometimes use words from both dialects together.

Sorry if you mentioned this already and I missed it or forgot, but is there a reason you didn't get the Nestera that's built with space underneath?

I probably owe tax. Not sure how much these are worth, since everyone's wet and muddy and most of them are at least partly tail-less at the moment.
View attachment 4231134
View attachment 4231136
View attachment 4231137

That first one should be a POW. It is the chicken equivalent of a warm fireplace on a rainy night.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

View attachment 4231143

At various times in my younger life, I studied French, German, and Latin.

This created in me a lifelong gratitude for English’s near-absence of cases and gendered nouns, pronouns, and adjectives. Oh, and a rational sentence order! (I’m looking at YOU, German.)

 

[Appalachickens]

Thank you for sharing that link! In addition to some interesting quotes from assorted tImes on the usage of gotten throughout written history, there's links at the bottom to more differences such as spelling between British and American English. I have a rabbit hole to enjoy for a while.

I do have to say on quoting Shakespeare....I'm not so certain his use of got AND gotten in the same play is all that significant simply because of his penchant for rhythm. Even factoring in Shakespeare's credit for being the father of the modern version of English (Internet excluded at the moment as that's still in so much flux)....

My point about Shakespeare was only that gotten is not completely unknown in British English.